Offensive Production
September 25, 2008 02:13 PM | General
September 25, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Teams are figuring out that the best way to keep West Virginia out of the end zone is by keeping the Mountaineers off the field.
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| Sophomore Noel Devine has failed to score a touchdown through the first three games of the season.
Brent Kepner photo |
Only New Mexico State (135), Florida (171), Florida International (173) and North Carolina (174) have run fewer offensive plays than West Virginia’s 177 total plays so far this year. Compare that to Oregon, which has run 335 offensive plays in four games to lead all subdivision schools.
As a result, West Virginia has had a wide disparity in time of possession. The Mountaineers are ranked 117th out of 119 subdivision schools in time of possession averaging 25:26 per game.
That’s nearly 12 minutes less than the national leader TCU, which is averaging 37:13 in possession time per game.
Because of the nature of its offense West Virginia in recent years has not been a great possessor of the football, ranking 54th in time of possession in 2007 (30:11), 51st in 2006 (30:07) and 36th in 2005 (30:57).
But what West Virginia was able to do in those previous years was convert third downs and score points. In 2005, the Mountaineers ranked 16th in the country in third-down conversions with a 45.4 percent success rate. In 2006, Pat White and Co. ranked sixth in the country on third down making 49.7 percent of their third down tries and last year, the Mountaineers were eighth with a 48-percent success rate (West Virginia the last two seasons also ranked ninth and third respectively in scoring offense).
Through three games West Virginia is ranked 83rd in the country in third-down conversion percentage making only 35.3 percent of its third down attempts. The Mountaineers have scored just 17 points in their last eight quarters and if you take out 17 points set up by the defense and special teams in the Villanova game, only 48 points have come directly from the offense. Of particular concern for the Mountaineers has been third and short situations, especially the last two games against East Carolina and Colorado.
“The biggest thing that we have to do is move the chains on third and short and we have to stay in the flow and the rhythm of the game, and then we can throw the ball more on first and second down,” West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said.
In its last two games West Virginia is just 4 of 12 in the more manageable third-and-less-than-five situations, including a disappointing 1-of-6 performance in the overtime loss to Colorado.
Stewart correctly points out that some of this is a result of having two-thirds of last year’s backfield (running back Steve Slaton and fullback Owen Schmitt) now playing in the NFL. The coach also cites inexperience and poor execution.
“I saw a couple of guys miss blocks on the quarterback sneak and that greatly disturbed me,” Stewart said. “I watched a couple of the young guys at the point of attack fall and slip and get beat. That frustrated me a little bit.”
There are other circumstances that could be impacting West Virginia’s offensive production as well.
Florida coach Urban Meyer believes the new clock rule is having an effect on the offensive game. Earlier this week, Meyer complained that his team was limited to just “46 competitive plays” against Tennessee due to the new 40/25-second and out-of-bounds clock rules.
What is so disturbing to Meyer and other offensive-minded coaches is that teams on average are losing about 10-12 percent of the total number of offensive plays (about eight per game) and games are roughly 14 minutes faster.
That means fewer opportunities for explosive offensive playmakers.
Florida is ranked 88th in the country in time of possession and Meyer estimates his team is losing more than 30 percent of its offensive plays per game, considering the fact that the 2007 team averaged 71 plays per game.
“I’m not a fan of the clock rule,” Meyer was quoted Thursday in USA Today. “I feel like they are cheating the fans - more importantly, the players. The players need more plays.”
West Virginia is averaging 59 plays per game so far this year. That is down from an average of 68.7 plays per game in 2007.
Bill Stewart believes the clock rule is having an impact on the way offensive coaches prepare for and call games.
“The game has changed a little bit,” he said. “We only had 67 snaps (against Colorado) and that includes the overtime. You just don’t get as many snaps as you used to because of the 40-second clock rule and that’s happening throughout the country.”
Time of possession, third-down conversion percentage and the new clock rule have all played a part in West Virginia’s sluggish start on offense through the first three games. Bill Stewart hopes to have an answer for these three areas on Saturday against Marshall.
“We will get it worked out – that’s why you practice and that’s why you try hard and that’s why you go back to the drawing board and try to get the best plays that you can,” Stewart said.
